Crowd-sourced DIY compendium wikiHow offers a get-started guide that helps make hunkering down with a pen and paper (remember those?) a sensible proposition, and one that will pay off down the line, as you look back at what's happened and what you promised yourself. The site also suggests a novel use of the journal—plotting out what you're doing each day, each week, or over whatever stretch of time:

Flowchart your job(s). This will help you to 'see' what exactly you do from day to day. What's the first thing you do in the morning? And depending upon your result, what do you do after that? And after that? Doing this will give you a clearer picture of what you accomplish daily, and it is useful in staying focused through the day. If your daily routine doesn't really fit into a flowchart, you could also write a paragraph or more about what you do, draw a mind map, or write notes or an outline.

Do you keep your own career journal/log? What do you wish you could track over the length of your working life (other than caffeine intake)? Share your success secrets in the comments.